Noir: A Deal with the Devil
In Magnolia where the legendary Fairy Tail guild once proudly stood, stood another guild known as The Purple Phoenix. Its guild compound was build exactly where the Fairy Tail compound once stood, its even been rumored to have been the exact same building by some people. Regardless the Purple Phoenix guild was a rising guild trying its hardest to become number one, a long and difficult task but it had the potential. Even now more and more prominent mages were joining the guild. At the moment one of the teams from the Purple Phoenix were wandering the town, this team was known as the Phoenix Chasers, was in the middle of one of its common tasks, Shopping for materials to fix bits and pieces of the guild's arena that were damaged due to an argument between the guild master and another guild entirely or so what was told. The Phoenix chaser team was shopping and the leader of the team Reid Aquirre was forced to go along, although while he did not mind, He didn't quite enjoy the fact that no one seemed to notice that Tisha Pierce was observing again, every so often she observes her surroundings. During this time they were taking a break at a cafe, oddly ignoring the conversation Naoto, and Nui were conversing with her. He still didn't know too much about Tisha's past and still hoped to figure out that at some point in time, but for the moment simply enjoyed the tea he ordered and waited for them to finish conversing so they could get back on track. A young, enthusiastic, charming male stood exactly hundred and eighty four centimeters tall displaying his lean yet muscular physique as he walked down the beautiful yet somewhat dirty path through the lush green velvety grass through the outer "gardens" through the forest to reach his destination. He walked as slowly as he could since it was a lovely day, the first of all the days of spring, with crocuses and wall-flowers in the cottage gardens, and white cocks crowing in the quiet hamlet but he couldn't stop to admire the beauty of nature, for he had to get there in time. It has been a long time since he was in a guild, after eighteen months of wandering he was ready to come home and do what he does best; being a Mage. The lazy wind pushed against the un-mown grass like a child sending a dandelion seeds on their way: one o'clock, two o'clock, three. Above the white wisped trail and the late spring sun brought out a welcoming warmth that coats the young male as good as caramel over a harvest apple. He reached the guild grounds within a matter of moments through the jungle but what he did not know is, there was an easier way. The one that did not require him to walk through a jungle but he was okay with taking the longer route. He walked towards the building as he began observing the guild whilst remembering the stories he heard about the fallen guild known as Fairy Tail. He couldn't belief he was standing in front of the same building as the heroes of Fairy Tail used to but, this was no Fairy Tail; this was a new guild and while he did not like the idea of a new guild taking the place of his childhood favorite, he had no other choice. This was the closest guild who actually needed people to join, so without hesitation he began walking towards it only to notice that there was almost no magical signatures inside the building as he suppressed his own to civilian levels. He knocked on the door politely twice and waited for someone to answer the door. The young male was eager to meet the guild master since inside his mind, he already had established an image of him and he was impressed by his own creation, he was just hoping his fiction to meet reality. A while back, it was relatively peaceful a few disagreements on whether or not a few rumors that were started about the guild were true or not, while it was common place for rumors about a guild to be spread sooner or later. Some good rumors or heck even an inspiring tale or 2 about an adversary the guild had overcome, but it was clear the current guild boss Alden Virkov had a few nasty enemies. He did not share who they were, while he does address certain rumors as they pop up. While it was unclear who exactly starts these rumors it was clear that a few had a clear vendetta against Alden. The day was proceeding like any other day, the guild was having fun killing time by chatting and in general having fun as any other guild would probably spend their time. The guild master Alden was at the guild bar, drinking like usual. Lilianna Lokitar a three eyed mute girl was sorting her tarot cards when she heard a knock on the door. As she was walking towards the door to answer it, her older brother Lycon went flying her head due to Vivian Ivy the guild ace having a meltdown due to losing a game of chess against Lycon. Unfortunate for whoever was knocking on the door wouldn't know that someone was about to slam through the door. Well whoever it was would get greeted like anyone else. There was a great disturbance in the "source" from all the different Mages' behavior within the guild, being the greatest magic and reality sensitive, the young male who identified himself as Ray Tyler sensed this. But there was something else he felt, he felt someone with magical powers coming to his direction fast and through the door, so without wasting any time, he jumped away from the direction of the incoming and waited for the door to be opened by that person, instead to his surprise it was bashed open and a person flew through it. This greatly confused him as he waited for someone to explain what was going on. The man who got himself thrown through the door got up and sighed, before going back into the compound. The 3 eyed female mage waved hello to the newcomer that knocked on the previously unbroken door. Alden spotting the newcomer went over to Ray to see what exactly it was he wanted, as he walked up to him he observed his appearance with his sharp eyes, noting anything worthy of notice in his head. His demeanor itself depicted that of a person with a very professional appearance. He addressed Ray in his very simple way of doing so "Sup, haven't seen you around here before, so what do ya want?" He awaited a reply while still observing the other guild members who seemed to be keeping an eye on the guild ace who was very angry for not apparently losing a game of chess. "Umm, ...uh--Oh, right! I wanted to join a guild and this one happens to be pretty new when compared to others. I was hoping you could always use another member, heh." replied the young man as he rolled eyes and then grinned as his facial expressions shifted. "How could I ever be that rude? My name is Ray, Ray Tyler", he further added. Ray began walking towards the guild members to show them, he is not really afraid of anyone; specially not men who are tossed around like rag dolls. Alden grinned and spoke "Of course, we're always looking for new faces to join our lovely guild." He then went over to the bar to get the guild stamp item which gives people a guild tattoo. The other members of the guild who were present in the hall at the time also gave the accustomed guild greeting which involved many different greetings. As Alden is looking for the guild stamp behind the bar the guild ace Vivian walked up to the mission board looking for something to do. Alden then found the guild stamp "Alrighty Ray, I the guild boss Alden Virkov welcome you to the guild, now where do you want the guild stamp?" as he said this he put the stamper thing on the table waiting for Ray. Ray smiles as he takes off his shirt, displaying his lean yet well built and well detailed muscular disposition; that would arguably cause some of the women around him to be slightly aroused. He then points towards his left pectoral, "Right here!" he exclaims as he makes it clear that by placing the guild mark on his chest, he wants to display how close to his heart he wants to hold this guild. He looked at Alden as he patiently waited for Alden to put on the guild mark, "Please don't give me a dark one or a black one. I like light colors! Preferable something in the shade of light blue or green, umm---celadon or celeste would do!", he adds to everyone's surprise. Alden's facial expression did not change. As he grabbed the guild mark stamp he changed the color of it to a lighter shade of purple as Ray did not specific enough on what color he wanted, a light color applied to a lot of colors as well as the different shades a color could take. Alden aimed the stamp at the area Ray indicated where he wanted his guild mark to be and placed it onto him, leaving the Purple Phoenix guild mark in a light purple color. "If you wanted the mark in a different color then maybe you should have said which color you wanted, Light purple is fine is it not? Oh and Welcome to the guild Ray Tyler." As he said this the rest of the guild welcomed him as well minus a few guild members who either chose not to speak or were incapable of doing so. "B-but, I did ask you to use a light blue one...", murmurs Ray as he gives Alden a confused as he couldn't fathom what the older man meant despite him clearly mentioning that he wanted a particular shade of blue or green but he couldn't complain, at least he was now part of the guild and without doubt, that was one of the greatest things that ever happened to him. He looked at his Purple Phoenix Guild Mark and smiled while grabbing his shirt and putting it back on quickly. He looked around the guild, inspecting and observing each and every member as he reached for the three eyed female mage as he asked her, "So, when can I get a job?" As Lilianna was sorting her tarot cards or she was until she noticed Ray approaching her. As he did she folded her cards and placed them on the table. As Ray asked her the question she looked over at the job board only to see that Vivian the guild ace had taken every single job on the board. Why? She did not know but there was only 1 notable thing Ray could do at that point job wise. "Well, there is one thing you can do aside from just doing whatever." this voice was not Lilianna it was an exceed, a cat like being from another world. She then introduced them "Oh I'm Beru friend of her, She is Lilianna but she cannot speak cause she is mute. Anyway there is one thing I think ya can do, if ya wanna do it. So wanna do this one jobby thingy?" After Beru said this she then climbed up onto the table as Lilianna stares silently at the general area. "Yes! I'll do it, I'll do anything! Well, maybe not clean your toilet...but anything other than that!" replied Ray clenching his fist as he displayed signs of great enthusiasm. He waited for the exceed to tell him more about the job as he patiently waited. Beru smiled at how helpful she was being "The job is simple the guild's arena, and several doors... are kinda broken and we need the supplies to fix them. One of the guild's teams already went out to get them, so just go visit them and help 'em out by then i'm sure someone will post an actual job on the board over there." Lilianna held out a picture of the team for reference "The leader of the team is Reid Aquirre aka the guy with the red eyes and the big sword thingy. If anything you'll have more people of the guild to chat with, thats always good" "Alrighty, you know where they are, right? Like the actual position? I need to know their position and how vast are their reserves?" questioned Ray. Ray looked at Lilianna and Beru to confirm if they had any idea about the aforementioned mage(s) current location or their magic. Lilianna looked at Beru who did not know herself but luckily She did know. Sighing she held up 4 fingers to indicate their current numbers, and placed a card that had the name Magnolia on it along with a drawing of the city on it. She then tapped the card trying to indicate they are in the nearby city. "God it!" exclaimed Ray as he looked into the "source" and searched the entire Magnolia as he patiently looked for a couple of high level of magic power coming off Mage's in the same direction at the same time. He finally pinpointed their exact location by locking onto the Magic signatures that were heading in the same direction as he was instructed to go and had significantly higher reserves compared to normal Mages. Without wasting time, Ray smiled as he bid farewell to his guild mates by waving his hand and then teleporting instantaneously. He immediately appeared before the Purple Phoenix Mages', taking them by surprised as he smiled at them as he greeted them by exclaiming "Yosh!" Inside a hotel room belonging to Naoto Roden the unofficial meeting spot for the Phoenix Chaser team. They were meeting there to discuss plans for future missions and considering when the S-class promotion trials would be. They wanted to be ready for their shot at the potential strongest opponents they know currently. Reid was performing routine maintenance on Naoto's artificial limbs, to ensure they are strong and at their best. After completing maintenance on her right arm Reid put it back into her arm but before he could finish, an unknown man that no one at the time knew at all appeared out of nowhere exclaiming a greeting but the female members having spotted an intruder in their area at the time assumed that the new person in the room was an intruder. Naoto went in for an attempt to uppercut the unknown intruder, Nui went at Ray's legs attempting to pin him to the floor, While Tisha requipped her revolver and aimed it at Ray indicating she would shoot if he tried anything funny. Reid attempted to calm the situation but at the way the situation escalated so quickly it seemed words would take a bit to reach them. "Okay, four words. Rude. Check. Same guild." he said at first, "Missing something? Nah. That's all. Now, get off before I make you---" he continued after a brief pause. An an apparently incapacitated Ray conversed with the guild-members as if it were nothing. As soon as he finished his sentence, Ray appeared instantaneously behind Tisha with her revolver in his hand as he playfully mocked her for being careless. "I could have avoided you guys whenever I wanted but I am really trying to work on our 'nakama' power here", he added. Reid grinning as Naoto quickly took her left arm back "I believe that was 30 words not four." As he said this Tisha turned around her left arm in a fist, but instead of attempting to punch him she unclinched her fist as 6 blank bullets fell from her hand. Naoto spoke "Mind showing proof that you are a new member of the guild, its not as if we get informed when someone is just recruited into the guild." Tisha extended her hand out indicating she wanted her revolver back. Nui took a kung fu pose ready for action while Reid seemed to observe the situation, but he was pretty sure the situation would calm down shortly. "Hey smartass, those are called letters not words. Words are combination of letters. Did you drop out of kindergarten?" replied Ray. Ray began to take off his shirt which only displayed his impressive physique once again as he pointed at his guild-mark that was perfectly placed on his chest. "Will this do?" he quested as he walked towards Tisha and handed her the revolver. Tisha grabbed her revolver and then put it back into her requip space before taking a seat. Reid grinned a very arrogant grin "I'm a natural born genius I was too smart for kindergarten." As he finished saying this Nui quickly bopped him over the head with a karate chop, apparently not entirely liking his joke. Naoto now calmed and assured that "That'll do i'm also surprised you have yet to share your name with us, I am Naoto, Nice to meet ya!" Tisha then spoke with her usual blank facial expression "So, what are you doing here anyway?"